108 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological .Society Vol.X 



undergrowth, such as boneset, nettle, etc., and moist meadows or 

 the margins of streams and ponds appear to be their favorite 

 habitat. 



The adults of Panorpa, Bittacus and Merope may be encoun- 

 tered from June to September, with the greatest abundance in 

 midsummer. The species of Boreus, on the other hand, have 

 only been found from midwinter to early spring, usually leaping 

 about on the snow. While considered rare insects, when en- 

 countered at all, they generally occur in considerable numbers. 



As regards food the adults of this family are said to be pre- 

 daceous upon other insects. In my own' experience, without 

 special effort at investigation, I have found species of Panorpa 

 feeding during the day on decaying fruit and on molasses ap- 

 plied to trees for the purpose of attracting moths at night. How- 

 ever, it is safe to state that as adults or larvse they are of no 

 economic importance. Some of the species, especially of Panorpa, 

 emit through the beak a dark colored fluid of disagreeable odor 

 and, probably, disagreeable taste, which may serve as a protection 

 against attack. 



In the New Jersey " Report on Insects " eleven species are 

 credited to the order, five lacking definite locality and date. 

 Further research no doubt will add considerably to this rather 

 small number; yet, even as it stands, the list represents at least 

 a beginning. The following list, incomplete as it must be, of the 

 Panorpidse of the Eastern United States, should be of service, if 

 for no other purpose, than to call attention to its incompleteness, 

 for there certainly is in this family a fine field for interesting and 

 original work. I have consulted my own material, the collection 

 in the Brooklyn Museum, the Am. Museum of Natural History, 

 that of Mr. William T. Davis and Mr. E. L. Dickerson. The 

 review of the Panorpidze of America North of Mexico by James 

 S. Hine has served as a basis and a number of species without 

 definite locality and date are cited on this authority alone. 



Genus Panorpa Linnaeus. 



My own material as well as that in the collection of the Brook- 

 lyn Museum has, for the greater part, been determined by Mr. 



